A FORMER soldier with a passion for mountaineering and helping others reach their potential is embarking on a two-month expedition to the Himalayas to train less experienced climbers.

Graeme Taylor, 42, from Ripon, will join the British Army expedition to climb Mount Manaslu – the eighth highest mountain in the world – on Friday, August 23, and will return in October.

Mr Taylor first started climbing in 1987 as part of Army training activities and since then has climbed and ski-mountaineered all over the world.

During his career in the Army as a mountaineer, leader and coach, he has helped others reach their potential.

Mr Taylor, who is now the managing director of Centred Coaching, a company that specialises in leadership development and motivational speaking, said: “This is a great opportunity for me to put something back into military mountaineering.

“We are a team of eight and seek to provide the platform for the less experienced members to go on and lead major expeditions in the future.

“The trekking route is through a mountainous area which is prone to monsoon rainfall and landslides.

“Mt Manaslu was in the news last year after an avalanche killed a number of climbers, but having studied the incident we discovered that the casualties had pitched their tents in the fall line for anything coming off the mountain - we will definitely not be doing that.

“The extreme high altitude and the ability of our bodies to acclimatise will be the greatest challenge and we are taking nine days to walk in to the base camp which should see us ready to start working on the mountain.

“It will be a test of endurance for everyone, even more so for some of the team members who have not experienced these conditions before.”

Mt Manaslu is on the border of Nepal and China, in west central Nepal, and stands at 8,156 metres above sea level.

The expedition has been three years in the planning and Mr Taylor started his physical training in May.

“I’ve been focusing on my cardio-vascular endurance and also the muscles in my knees, where I have experienced problems in the past,” he said.

Follow Mr Taylor’s progress at http://centred-coaching-mtblanc2012.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/preparing-to-climb-mt-manaslu-8156m.html, or the team’s blog at http://remec-manaslu13.blogspot.co.uk.